Day 12 - Thu 11 Jun 15: Nuremberg

25km (Greg only), 14-26 deg C, cloudy but fine 

Poor old Nuremberg was punished for being Hitler's favourite city and the centre for his Nazi regime. The allies bombed it mercilessly leading up the end of WWII. However, the Germans are a resilient bunch so over the decades since then they have re-built this place to somewhere near its former glory.  The city centre has a lovely mix of old and new and the Old Town walls from the 15th century are just about fully intact. 

After a wholesome brekkie we caught the tram (#9) out to the partly completed Nazi Rally Centre, now called The Documentation Centre which chronicles all things Nazi.  And they don't pull any punches but say it exactly like it was, warts and all. This place is massive, the parade ground was designed for 100,000 troops and the Congress Hall for 50,000 people.  The commencement of the War brought the whole project to a halt.  The Congress Hall (not finished as designed) now houses The Document Centre, Nuremberg Symphony Orchestra and some Ambulance outfit. It looks like they use some of the grounds for rock concerts etc.  The planned Nazi Centre would have covered 11sqkm and it would have been magnificent; in an ugly sort of way.  After a couple of hours of wandering, we finished up with mornos at the Document Centre cafeteria. 

It was then back to the Old Town where we walked up to the top where the Castle is. Another engineering marvel but many centuries before the Nazis. The Old Town is just a great place to wander around as there's always markets, buskers, beggars and tourists going about their business. 

After a bite to eat in the city, we returned to the hotel where Greg jumped on his bike (can't stay away from it even on a rest day) and wandered around, eventually ending up at the Nuremberg Trials Memorial which is the Court House where a lot of the Nazi leaders were tried and then hanged. They had it coming!!  It was the first time in history that a regime had been brought to account for war crimes. 

Dinner tonight was bratwurst (little sausages this time though), sauerkraut and beer; good wholesome tucker.  

Another interesting day on tour.


Our ticket for the bus, train and tram

The Documentation Centre

Hitlermania

A Nazi rally on the Parade Ground

An old aerial picture of the Congress Hall

View of Nuremberg from the Castle

Inside the Castle walls




Holiday Inn Express Hauptbahnhof #116


Purchasing our travel tickets

On the tram heading to the Documentation Centre

The start of it all


Nuremberg Nazi poster

The Congress Hall now

Yvonne, Gunther and Wendy

The planned Congress Hall

Nuremberg Castle


The old city walls remain intact

Nuremberg Trials Court building

The Trials Court

Courtroom entrance


Dinner venue



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Day 38 - Tue 7 Jul: Mainz to Frankfurt

Image
Estimated km: 40; Actual km: 45; Total km: 1574; Ride time: 3h04m; Av speed: 14.7 kph   21-33deg, fine and pleasant.   Our last day on the bikes for this tour, where has the time gone?   As Maccas was across the street from the hotel, some (who shall remain nameless) had to wait until they opened to have brekky.   Maccas opens very late (8am) here compared to Oz. They actually serve a nice bacon and eggs breakfast in Germany so it's not too bad for you. Greg had brekkie in the room.   We rode away at 9am and headed back to the city centre of Mainz for a look around.   As it was a short-ride day there was no hurry to make tracks. Market Square, the main square in Mainz, by this time was bustling with fresh food stalls, shoppers and cyclists.   What a lovely way to buy your weekly food supplies.   Market Square is right next to the Mainz Cathedral, yet another massive old church from the 11th century.   About this time in history the Bi...
Read more

Day 13 - Fri 12 Jun 15: Nuremburg to Rothenburg ob de Tauber

Image
Estimated km: 77; Actual km: 88; Total km: 550; Ride time: 5h22m; Start time: 8am; End time: 3:05pm; Av speed: 16.3 kph   16-34 deg C, (still pleasant though) fine and sunny.   We awoke to bright sunshine streaming into our motel window; a cycle tourer's dream.  After another lovely Holiday Inn brekkie we headed out into an already warm day. It took 13km to clear the city traffic and noise, and what a relief that was!   If there's any such thing as a perfect touring day this goes close. Apart from a dodgy downhill gravel section (which was a mistaken shortcut) it was smooth cycle paths or back roads all day.  There were a few "lumps" in the journey which got the heart going and blood flowing, but in the main the hills were kind and gentle. The ride was predominantly through farming country, mostly grain, sugar beet and canola, with some nice sections of forests and quaint villages. Our morning tea stop at Dietenhofen appeared precisely on time and had a gr...
Read more